There are many known welding-type systems used to provide a welding-type output or welding-type power for many known applications. Welding-type system, as used herein, includes any device capable of supplying welding, plasma cutting, and/or induction heating power including invertors, convertors, choppers, resonant power supplies, quasi-resonant power supplies, etc., as well as control circuitry and other ancillary circuitry associated therewith. Welding system, or system for welding, as used herein, includes one or more of a power source, controller, wire feeder, and a source of gas, it may also include peripherals such as robots etc. Welding-type output, as used herein, includes outputs suitable for welding, plasma or heating. Welding-type power, as used herein, refers to welding, plasma or heating power.
Welding power supplies are often part of a weld cell. Weld cell, as used herein, is the area in which the welding system resides, including the welding-type power supply, and the weld location. It can include physically separate locations, for example when lengthy weld cable are used. Weld location is defined herein as the area in which the weld occurs. Portions of the welding-type system may be at the weld location. In some applications, such as shipyards and pressure vessels, the feeder is at the weld location, while the power source is remote from the weld location.
Some known applications, such as welding in shipyards, involve multiple processes and multiple welders. A portion of the welding cell system, such as the power supply, may be located outside the ship being built, and other portions of the system, such as the wire feeder and/or torch/gun, may be located inside the ship at the weld location. There may be hundreds of cables running from outside the ship to inside the ship, each up to hundreds of feet long. It is often difficult to determine the matching ends of a cable, thus a user may run another cable from inside to outside when beginning a new weld, exacerbating the problem. Alternatively, the user can spend an inordinate amount of time finding the end of a cable inside the ship (or outside), or try and haul the heavy power supply into the ship to a location closer to the weld location.
This problem is made worse when different processes are used with different power supplies. When the welder finishes one task, the cables might not be useable for the next process, so another cable is run. Also, the welder typically needs to adjust settings on the welding power supply outside the ship, so knowing which power supply is connected to which cable is important. Some systems provide for a separate control cable, which results in another cable needing to be identified at each end.
Wireless communication from inside the ship to outside the ship can be difficult because the ship's hull often blocks RF signals. Welding pressure vessels, such as coal-fired boilers, results in many of the same problems present when welding in shipyards.
The numbers of cables and difficulty communicating can adversely impact welder productivity, repairs, distortion, lost time, quality, quality assurance, the skill level needed to weld properly, cost and complexity of cables, time and expense of locating associated power supply and working end of cables, time and expense of changing process or variables, and time for rework and repairs associated with choosing the wrong process or parameters.
Accordingly, a welding-type system that simplifies cable management for a weld cell, particularly in ships or pressure vessels, is desired. Such a system preferably provides for communication from the weld location to remote from the weld location.